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SkillsShop teaches resilience

The Brookhaven College Counseling Center hosted the SkillsShop, Realize Your Resilience! aimed at teaching students the importance of perseverance in moments of struggle. The workshop gave students the opportunity to learn how to successfully tackle life’s challenges.

Chrystal Keaton, a counseling intern, led the workshop Sept. 27 in Room S064.

“[Resilience is the] ability to experience trauma, stress, things that interfere with your day-to-day life and being able to bounce back and overcome these difficult experiences,” Keaton said.

Resilient people realize setbacks will happen but can push through them, unlike those who tend to shut down, she said.

Keaton showed students a video about successful people who ov rcame failures, including Derek Redmond, a British athlete who finished the 400-meter sprint despite a torn hamstring in the 1992 Summer Olympics. Other examples included Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Stephen King, Oprah Winfrey and Albert Einstein.

Keaton said to be resilient, a person must first make realistic plans. When people first set achievable goals, they can accomplish their major goals, she said. One should persevere through personal issues.

Keaton said another way to overcome a problem is to avoid spending time dwelling on it. Students could get involved in the community or with campus organizations and clubs.

Keaton also suggested students should view challenges in a positive way and learn to overcome them.

The power of resilience applies to students’ home and social lives, as well as religious worship, Keaton said.